Best Online Fishing Games

With winter comes summer fishing blues - I mean I love ice fishing and all, but there is only so much frostbite a man can take. I'm much more into spending quality time on my boat, looking for good walleye spots with some good friends, eating hard boiled eggs and pepperoni sticks, drinking water (!) and smoking cigars.

A few years ago I bought myself an Xbox console. I enjoy gaming and back then I had a lot of free time, being a professional SEO has its rewards, like spending a complete summer at the cottage, doing nothing but fishing and putting up websites - all the while earning a comfortable living. Those were the days :-)

Anyhow, I decided to spend a bit of time this week to review what I think are the very best fishing games that can be played online. It helps boost your spirits - online fishing games are usually made with flash, and they vary a lot in the experience they provide.

The Survivor Fishing Game - Click Here to Try it!

First off you pick your survivor character - I liked Tom for some reason, so I picked him everytime - I have no idea if Tom is a better fisherman than the rest of his survivor friends, but he fared well with a level 9 high after 3 games.

The trick in this game is to cast as far as you can, let it sink, then retrieve slowly and try to lure your fish in as close to shore as you can. Try to land those alligators, they are good for 200 points and they are the reason I made it to 9 levels.

Use the spacebar to cast, the longer you hold it the further you will cast. Set the hook with the spacebar as well, you have to let the bigger fish run, follow the instructions that appear on your screen, and you should be ok. You will soon find out why I recommend hookinbg big fish close to shore.

You don't want to break all your fishing poles, so do be careful when fighting big fish from a distance. In some cases where the fish is winning, you will notice they never ghet tired and just keep on getting further away. You will want to break your pole then, because there is a time limit and you will be wasting all your time on a lost cause.

My score: 8/10

-------------------------------------------

Big Mouth Bass 3D - Click Here to Try it!

This game is made with shockwave and it is much more sophisticated than most of the online fishing games I have seen so far. The game allows you to pick lures, pick lakes, pick tournaments or leisure fishing, it allows you to cast all around and to retrieve as fast or slows as you wish. You will be casting crankbaits into shallow weedbeds for large mouth bass.

This game is visually stunning, the amount of attention that was paid to detail is incredible. However the game controls are difficult to understand and to master, which makes the game not as much fun to play as it should be.

I also had issues with the game generating bugs and not recording scores. A quick look at some of the reviews on the site and I can see this is a common problem - and yes I have a brand new computer with all the bells and whistles, including the latest version of shockwave.

Everything is done with your mouse - as far as I could gather, you use the left button to cast - this is a huge challenge by the way, casting is second nature to me, but casting in this game requires an unreal amount of precision and speed with the mouse button only robots could cast perfectly everytime.

My score: 6/10

-------------------------------------------

Super Fishing Game - Click here to try it!

Wow - this is like playing asteroids only you're a chinese angler out at sea fishing with a fishing pole so long you get electrocuted by dark clouds and you constantly have to shift from one side to the other, avoid picking up garbage and catch as much fish as you can - including lobster.

If fishing is supposed to help you relax, this game does just the opposite. It is very entertaining and I can imagine people would get hooked on this game, the same way you can get hooked on the Survivor fishing game. There is also a high score component which should motivate those people who like to see their names on those lists. The game is made with flash so no downloads required.

You can catch many fish at once, i.e. you just keep sending your line down and make sure it lines up with fish. There is no notion of fighting the fish or changing lures here, in fact this sort of game does really well with girls in general - it is the typical wife crack.

My Score: 7/10

-------------------------------------------

Reel Fishing - Click here to try it!

This game was clearly designed by programmers with no design skills whatsoever - it does have some entertainment value, but as a game, much more effort should have been made to create a good presentation. They might as well just make a text based game with no graphics.

Not impressed - and here is another version of the same crappy game

http://www.pigdogtoad.com/sawfish_lagoon/sawfish_lagoon.html

My Score: 4/10

-------------------------------------------

Big Catch - Click here to try it!

Wow - Big Catch is simply amazing - it wins best flash fishing game - hands down!

This game features photorealistic backgrounds, the 3 d models of fish are just unreal for a flash game, it reminds me a lof of Rapala Pro Fishing for the Xbox - gameplay is superb, casting is easy, fighting the fish is very realistic, there are different species of fish who react differently to different approaches, they also have different abilities as fighters, northern pike, rainbows, bass all fight hard - but they eventually get tired.

The images of fish are awesome, I am familiar with the species they offer, the sounds are great, very playable, I'm hooked.

Basically, you fish each lake for 5 minutes, and you get paid for your catches (this is a tournament) - and you can use your earnings to buy new lures.

My Score: 9/10

-------------------------------------------

Hook line and sinker - Click here to try it!

another poorly designed frogger type game - flash from the 80s. Ideal to entertain a 5 year old for a few minutes.

My Score: 5/10

-------------------------------------------

The Fishing Game - Click here to try it!

Hmmm... in this game, you throw harpoons at fish, rather than use a pole. That's where the good stuff ends (it is original) - the problem is you have very little time to complete a level, and there are not enough fish to make the level, even if you capture every single fish they send your way - how are you supposed to enjoy playhing a game where you can't level up no matter what - I actually did level up one time by fluke. All in all this is a frustrating game but it could become interesting if the designer made it a little bit less difficult.

My Score: 5/10

-------------------------------------------

Shark Bait - Click here to try it!

wow - this was funny - you have to feed yourself because you are a very hungry boy - but you have to make sure you don't catch bunny faced fish or spiny fish - stick to standard fish and make sure your boy won't starve. Excellent game for plyability - very funny. Make sure you have the sound turned up for this one.

My Score: 7/10

-------------------------------------------

Feed Fullmo - Click here to try it!

Fullmo is a big polar bear who for some weird reason decided to light a lamp at night, and go out on an iceberg for an evening of ice fishing. He's hungry and you have to feed him - but he doesn't really care for minnows, he wants salmon, and there is plenty of slow moving, picky eating salmon going by. Your job is to help him land the big ones, without spooking the fish too much. There is a high score board and just by looking at the top score, you can tell that some people have spent hours feeding the beast. This game is addictive.

My Score: 8/10

-------------------------------------------

Fishing Fantasy - Click here to try it!

It seems that a lof of game designers are lacking inspiration so they decided to copy each other and just change the way the graphics look. Now I'm not saying this guy copied anyone, but someone sure did. Yet another game where you're on a boat jigging for fish.

Not original at all, but it is playable I guess and it can keep kids entertained. After reviewing some of the other games though I wouild say this one falls short on my list of the best flash fishing games online.

My Score: 6/10

-------------------------------------------

Great Big List of Fishing Video Games for Download!

One last referral, I found this site with tons of links to dozens more fishing games, mostly downloads, but some flash games there as well. Excellent resource if you are looking for fishing games to buy or download demos.

http://myfishysite.vegard2.no/

Aqua-Vu Walleye Ice Fishing

This makes me want to buy an Aqua-Vu camera like right now. In fact I think I'm going to right after I'm done cleaning up the basement. This video shows walleye coming up to a jig presentation, looking at it with serious intent, then backing off - probably detecting something was wrong. Awesome aqua VU video.

Speaking of Aqua-Vu, they released a revolutionary new high speed lcd flasher system designed specifically for ice fishing - it replaces the infamous vexilar flashers. This new device really simplifies reading for ice fishing amateurs who don't get the concept of the flasher. It is called the Aqua-Vu VPG - for vertical pixel graph.

Basically, this new device illustrates the water column as, well, a water column.

It is an LCD screen that won'ty freeze (according to them) because they built in a screen heater. It comes with a rechargeable 12 volt battery, a neoprene case, with velcro, the target separation is perfect for walleye at 1/2 inch.

Dealers sell this device for approximately $229 USD

Another neat product they releases is a DVR version of the Aqua Vu system - which is probably how the video was shot in the first place. It uses Secure Disc media cards foir recording, so capacity is up to you - the bigger the card, the more video you can capture.

The Aqua Vu DVR unit retails for about $500 USD.

Big walleye kill shot

Here is another Youtube walleye fishing video - this time, someone fishing the st lawrence river, not too far from here, for walleye, but he's not just fishing, he's spearfishing and he is filming it all. The video was shot in about 30 feet of water.

How to fillet a walleye video

Jason Boser shows us how to clean walleye - notice how sharp his blade is, having sharp blades makes things so much easier. There are other methods, but this is exactly how I do it.

Techniques for Frying Walleye and Other Fish

There are 3 ways to fry fish: pan frying, stir frying and deep frying. All these techniques provide the same end result - the fish cooks rapidly and the high temperature form a thin crust at the surface, sealing the delicious juices in.

Frying fish works best for fish with low to moderate oil content, such as perch, walleye, bass, sauger, northern pike, sunfish, and crappie.

PANFRYING
Walleye and other similar fish can be fried in large uncovered pans. I use approximately 1/2 inch of clean vegetable oil and heat it up on the highest setting. I typically test the temperature with a piece of fish - if the oil reacts to it then it's ready. Some people will use electric skillet (but I don't have one).

The fish should be no thicker than 1 1/2 inches (at the most!) and usually it is dredged in flour, cornmeal, cracker crumbs, cornflake crumbs or a seasoned coating mix.

If you use a heavy coating like cracker crumbs, you may want to dip your fish in beaten eggs to help the coating adhere to the fish so it will stay on while cooking.

STIR-FRYING
This is the traditional oriental method where you cut up your fish into small bite sized pieces and cook them in a wok or a large frying pan with a mixture of veggies in a sauce. Hot vegetable or peanut oil is usually flavored with seasonings such as garlic or fresh ginger before the fish and vegetables are added.

Because this method requires very high heat, you must constantly stir your mix so it won't burn. Also you need to use firm fish for stir-fries so it won't just come apart while you're stirring the mix.

DEEP-FRYING
fillets or whole small fish are first dredged in batter and then immersed in hot oil heated to 375 degrees (keep a candy thermometer hand to make sure you're always in that range).

First you have to make sure your fish is patted dry with a paper towel, then you dip it in batter - by the way, make sure you batter is nice and cold before you dip your fish into it, otherwise it sucks in way too much oil. Lower the fish into the oil slowly so the batter stays on. It will form a crispy shell, keeping the fish nice and moist inside.

Avoid deep frying too many pieces at once. The pieces will stick together, the oil temperature will drop and you will end up with soggy fish.

When you remove the pieces, you will need to put them on a wire rack mounted above a plate with a paper towel. Keep them in the oven or in a warm and serve drawer. If you put them directly on paper towels the fish won't be as crispy.

Some people are wasting perfecty good lures

I have no clue how I stumbled upon this, but it's definitely worth your attention - some folk are building jewelry with lures, in this case it looks as though they are using a soft plastic minnow (maybe a Berkley?) - it's actually pretty cool. check it out here!

Slight redesign work

I have been rebuilding the site from many perspectives, it may not be immediately evident to any of you, but I've made a few dozen changes this morning and last night.

I use the blogging application called "blogger". I don't really want to use it, but I wanted to publish my blog under my domain name, which actually belongs to a company called NetIdentity (now Tucows). They basically bought the domains for thousands of last names, and they charge people like myself a fee to us their service and rent the domain for their own needs.

In any case, NetIdentity also forces you to host with them, but they provide nothing for semi-advanced hosting., i.e. no PHP, no database, no access to the web server configuration.

When I started blogging in 2004, I chose blogger because it allowed me to use their application and then publish static files to my hosting provider, NetIdentity.

But blogger had very little in place to take advantage of the new world of social media. In fact even the new blogger is limited - I had to use a third party provider (feedburner) to supply a rss feed that works for everyone, and to provide easy ways for my readers to bookmark my posts on delicious or to digg something they like.

Also blogger doesn't really provide any way to have a blogroll, or to link to my own favourite posts.

Some of the other issues I had were more related to some choices I had made a long time ago, such as having a ton of little images at the bottom of my pages promoting various top 10 lists. I cleaned that up (most of them are non-existent already).

So I'm working on improving the site, over the years I have written some posts that were better than others and that I want everyone who comes to visit to have a chance to read, so I created a static list of some of the better posts which you can find on the right hand side nav bar.

I'll be making more changes over the next few weeks, as I try to make the most of blogger. If you know any tricks I could use to improve things over here with this whole situation, please let me know.

FishBoy - pretty cool designs!

I was going through some of my old links and found the http://www.fishboy.com/ site - I spent a few minutes browing their inventory, they have awesome t-shirts!

You'll find some real original gifts, shirts, hats, and other gizzmos.

When is it safe to walk on ice?

Every year people drown because they step out on thin ice and fall through.

So when is the ice thick enough to support walking - and fishing?

You need a minimum of 5 inches of ice under your feet to even consider going for a walk on the lake.

Here is my list of the top 10 tips to keep yourself safe on the ice. I wrote this in 2004, but it's still valid - of course.

1. There is no universally safe ice thickness. Each body of water has certain properties that affect how much ice is considered safe. Use common sense, and ask people who have more experience than yourself how much ice is required for safe conditions.
2. Wear a personal flotation device, better yet a one piece insulated floating suit
3. Don't fish alone, and let someone know where you will be and when you will be back.
4. Test the ice in front of you with an ice spud or an auger
5. Be very wary of river ice, because current makes ice thickness vary quite a bit
6. Snow is a great insulator, and as such it can make the ice strong, but it can also prevent it from freezing. When fishing on snow covered ice, pay close attention, the snow can hide weak spots and cracks that you would otherwise see.
7. Slush indicates decaying ice
8. Always carry a nylon rope and a few large nails, they can provide the grip you need in case you fall through the ice and can't grab on to the edge. Face the direction you came from, kick out with your legs, or use your nails to grab on, and roll off as far as you feel is necessary to be safe again, do NOT stand up immediately, you will likely just fall through again. (self-rescue technique)
9. If you see someone fall through, do not run toward them, rather extend a rope or an object that they can hold onto.
10. Again, there is no universal set of rules for how thick ice has to be for safe fishing, but as a rule of thumb, these are "minimum requirements" you should memorize:

• 2 inches of ice is extremely dangerous, do not even attempt to walk on ice this thin
• 4 inches of ice may be sufficient to walk and go ice fishing
• 5 inches may be enough to support snowmobiles ( do not park them close to one another)
• 8 to 12 inches may be enough to support cars or small pickups ( do not park them close to one another)
• 15 inches may be enough to support medium trucks ( do not park them close to one another)

No ice yet

Ice fishing will come later this year, my favorite spots are just starting to ice over, it will be at least 2 more week before ice fishing season begins for me. Got a big gift certificate from my dad on Christmas, will probbaly buy myself a clam portable shelter. I hope to find better walleye spots this year, last year was hit and miss, the year before more of the same. I need to hit some spots I marked with waypoints late last fall.